Training Camp 2018

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Arky

If you need a football fix, tonight Chicago plays Baltimore in the Hall of Fame game, 7pm CST on NBC.

I tuned in tonight and had no idea that RG3 was still alive, much less playing in the NFL. Huh.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by Keith

I tuned in tonight and had no idea that RG3 was still alive, much less playing in the NFL. Huh.

Yep, no Astro game so I'm watching (not listening, though), too. Between he, Lamar Jackson and Flacco, Baltimore seems to have it covered at QB....

[Arky]

Harris notes 8/3/18:

The heavens opened up on Friday morning and dumped oodles of rain on the Greenbrier Valley, most importantly on the Greenbrier’s Sports Performance Center.

Here is the Harris Hurry-up from a wet Friday morning practice.

-- The Texans actually worked out longer than they had in a few days. Coach Bill O’Brien noted after practice that he wanted to keep the team out in the elements to get some work in inclement weather. You never know, right?

-- The most important aspect of the day was the multiple situational work that the team did on Friday. Coach O’Brien came up with as many different situations as humanly possible. Even in the rain, the team worked through a litany of end of half, end of game or specialty situations in the downpour.

-- The first play of team drills during situations was a red zone type drill and safety Tyrann Mathieu set the tone with a key pass breakup.

-- Then, on the next play, quarterback Deshaun Watson lofted a beauty to DeAndre Hopkins in the back left corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Hopkins dragged his back foot to ensure the touchdown snag.

-- On the next play, Watson threw a dime to tight end Ryan Griffin for another touchdown. That one had the defensive back seven congregating to figure out how they let that one get to Griffin so cleanly.

-- Rainy conditions are a kicker’s worst nightmare yet Kaimi Fairbairn was more accurate than perhaps any other day in camp.

-- Fairbairn came up short on a couple of 57 or so yard bombs but was right on target. He hit the crossbar with one. He was a yard short on another, then he got some help from the crossbar on the last in the drill. He hit the crossbar and it propelled through the uprights.

-- I mentioned Mathieu earlier for work that he did with the first defensive crew. Later in practice, he actually stepped in on the scout team and recovered an onside kick. I love watching that dude every day because he loves this game.

-- The rest of the workout was specialized situational work that didn’t really provide much in the way of information. Fairbairn did end the day with a “game winning” field goal, which was fun to see from a distance. As he made contact with the ball, water flew everywhere, spinning with the ball as it went through the air.

-- At the end of practice, the Texans turned into a bunch of young kids. The linebackers and defensive linemen took off for some standing water on the field near us and turned it into a slip and slide. The offense did the same on the far field. Nothing like a bunch of professional athletes going full slip n’ slide before ending the day.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

Yep, no Astro game so I'm watching (not listening, though), too. Between he, Lamar Jackson and Flacco, Baltimore seems to have it covered at QB....

I have no idea if Jackson will be a good NFL QB. He obviously has tools and produced in college. But I watched him against UH and not only did he play awful, he had a terrible attitude. He was a total hothead that reminded me of Philip Rivers. Punching the ground every time a defender dared to tackle him. Yelling at linemen. Most great QBs are Joe Cool back there and not many emotional guys succeed at the position. He got crushed in the game (like he did against most teams that matched Louisville's talent). He dominated bad teams with his legs and with a beautiful deep ball, but he was awful when pressured. It will be interesting to see what he does in NFL games. Most NFL teams have not shown a lot of creativity with mobile QBs. They try to turn them into pocket guys who can scramble on broken plays. Most NFL offenses just aren't very out of the box.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by barrett

Most NFL teams have not shown a lot of creativity with mobile QBs.

I had a dream a couple of nights ago where Deshaun just ran wild. He'd get the snap and stand there for a moment and wait for the play to unwind a bit, see his opening and just take off. It was like fun football where there's one 12 year old with the body of a 15 year old who is just miles and miles ahead of all the other kids and is almost literally a man among boys. We've all seen this, I'm sure. That was Desahaun. But it was the NFL. But it was a dream.

Speaking of dreams, how 'bout that Manziel kid, huh? I certainly hope the Cowboys don't find a way to scoop him up.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

I had a dream a couple of nights ago where Deshaun just ran wild. He'd get the snap and stand there for a moment and wait for the play to unwind a bit, see his opening and just take off. It was like fun football where there's one 12 year old with the body of a 15 year old who is just miles and miles ahead of all the other kids and is almost literally a man among boys. We've all seen this, I'm sure. That was Desahaun. But it was the NFL. But it was a dream.

Speaking of dreams, how 'bout that Manziel kid, huh? I certainly hope the Cowboys don't find a way to scoop him up.

Obviously injury concerns make it impossible for a guy to run all the time, but it is amazing the NFL tries to remove the most effective play in college football (QB run). Most NFL coaches would rather fail with accepted practices than risk failing with unaccepted ones. I guess if you fail with accepted practices you just show up as a retread with a new job elsewhere. So they all play in the same sandbox waiting on someone else to take the chances.

Then once one guy is praised for creativity they all copy it. We'll have 10 teams running RPOs this year after Folkes did it last playoffs. It's a copycat league.

I was shocked at the amount of creativity O'Brien showed with Watson last year and I was shocked how little the Watson led offense resembled the Savage/Mallett/etc ones we previously saw. Maybe O'Brien was so willing to lose this job he got very brave with what he'd try last year.

[Arky]

Harris notes, Aug 5:

-- Wide receiver DeAndrew White made the best catch I’ve seen him make in team drills early in practice. He skied above the defensive backs on a route down the middle of the field for a catch on a throw from quarterback Brandon Weeden.

-- Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn had another solid day kicking field goals. He made five of eight through the Arena League posts (i.e. tight sticks) and missed only one on the NFL sticks. He seems more consistent the more that he’s kicked these past two weeks.

-- During the past two weeks, tight end Jordan Akins may not have dropped one pass during a team drill. At least, not that I remember. All the tight ends have caught it extremely well, which is great to see. Akins can also get himself open in a hurry as well. He beat a linebacker in man coverage for a quick pitch and catch from Weeden early in team drills.

-- Rookie Justin Reid came up with the first interception of the day on the very first play of team drills. He was patrolling the middle of the field and read the errant throw perfectly to put himself in position to make the pick.

-- I’ve written “4 to 15 - complete” a lot this week, in particular... and those have been in a variety of ways as well. That would be No. 4 Deshaun Watson and No. 15 Will Fuller V, in case you didn’t know my shorthand.

-- Quarterback Brandon Weeden honed in on receiver Sammie Coates earlier in training camp, but on Sunday, he had Braxton Miller in his sights. During team drills, Miller had consecutive catches on throws from Weeden.

-- On one of the final plays of that drill, safety Treston Decoud came up with a diving interception, the second of the day for the defense.

-- I’ve gotten a ton of questions every single day about defensive end J.J. Watt. People have surmised, erroneously, that something must be wrong because I haven’t mentioned him in the Harris Hurry-up much at all. So, let me cool everyone’s jets a little bit - Watt is fine, has been fine and has been as good as ever in training camp. We good now? Okay, great.

-- Watching him work his pass rush moves in one-on-ones, it’s so...man, what’s the right word...surgical. His hand placement, his body positioning and his feet are all in sync when he rushes the quarterback and that makes it so tough to block him one-on-one. He’s given the Texans tackles some lessons that can only make them better in 2018 and beyond.

-- If there’s one thing I knew about rookie Duke Ejiofor coming out of Wake Forest, it was that he was a skilled pass rusher. He certainly hasn’t disappointed in that category this camp in my opinion. He used a maneuver off the edge today that looked like something straight out of an “And 1” mixtape. By the way, “And 1” is basketball. Never seen any edge rusher try anything like that.

-- The more that I watch the Texans edge rushers, the more I’m convinced that hands and hand usage are more important than anything other asset, including speed, burst or power. If a rusher can throw hands accurately, properly and precisely, he’ll win a significant number of reps. Just one man’s opinion.

-- When I watch tackle Kendall Lamm during one-on-ones, he seems so much more patient in his approach. He doesn’t overreact and gets himself in proper position with his feet to stave off the opposing rusher. Now, he has to put it all together in these preseason games to show how far he’s progressed.

-- Interior lineman Zach Fulton is one strong SOB. I really love to watch him in the run game, but he’s so strong in pass protection that he can hold up against nearly anything an interior D-Lineman throws at him. I’m a big fan and hope that he continues that play that way on into the season and beyond.

-- The final period of the day was more 11-on-11 and the highlight was a defensive one - rookie Andre Chachere came down with the defense’s third pick of the day. I’m anxious/excited to see what the former San Jose State Spartan does in these next few preseason games.

-- Offensive lineman Anthony Coyle and defensive Kingsley Opara each caught a punt from Shane Lechler to ensure that the team would have the night off prior Monday’s full day off. It may not sound like much, but a 90+ minute meeting during training camp after a grueling two hour practice is no bueno. I can tell you from personal experience that a night away from meetings is the best thing ever in training camp (relatively speaking). Justifiably, the team went crazy when Opara sealed the night off with his catch.

Well, that’s it for today, folks. One more practice on Tuesday, a trip to Kansas City on Wednesday, Preseason game number one on Thursday and home to Houston on Friday (early morning). Can’t wait to see this team in game action very soon. See ya on Tuesday with more from West Virginia.

[Arky]

Harris notes, Aug 7:

Well, the Texans time at the Greenbrier in 2018 has come to an end. The team will hop on a plane for Kansas City on Wednesday for preseason game number one. As such, the team did more in the way of preparation for the Chiefs so there’s not a ton to report on Tuesday’s practice specifically. So, I figured with my last Harris Hurry-up from West Virginia, I’d give you some final one sentence quick hitters from this camp.

-- It did this man’s (and many others as well) heart good to see J.J. Watt healthy again.

-- Cornerback Kevin Johnson seemed to have 2017 in the rear view mirror and is ready to get back to his old self this year.

-- Quarterback Deshaun Watson was not held back one bit in camp and that...was...awesome.

-- I found out that linebacker Brian Peters can hold his breath under water for three minutes and thirty-five seconds...WOW!

-- Defensive linemen like All-Dressed chips that apparently you can only get in Canada and if you don’t bring them to training camp, you’ll catch some flak as Christian Covington found out.

-- This rookie class has been all kinds of impressive up here at the Greenbrier.

-- People still don’t believe me that rookie tight end Jordan Thomas was a wide receiver at Mississippi State in 2017.

-- Running back Lamar Miller cut some weight before camp and it has paid off in terms of explosiveness and burst in all that he does.

-- Wide Receiver DeAndre Hopkins is as fun to watch as ever.

-- On Draft Night 2016, after Will Fuller V was drafted, Hopkins said no more double teams and if Will continues his ascent, he’s going to create a definite conundrum for NFL defenses.

-- Guard Zach Fulton is one strong dude and his presence will certainly help the run game in 2018.

-- I’m not sure I’ve seen either rookie tight end - Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas - drop a pass in camp.

-- Somehow, someway, safety Tyrann Mathieu will always be around the ball, no matter what.

-- And, by the way, Mathieu playing catch with kids during a break in practice might be my favorite moment of the entire training camp.

-- Linebacker Zach Cunningham creates so many opportunities scheme-wise for defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel due to his speed and athleticism........................

[nunusguy]

Anybody on this Board planning on attending any of the TC sessions they are having here in Houston with the first one being held this morning ?
If you do go please report back.